A reader ask me to review this probiotic (using my usual pro forma approach).
First impression, this company sells many different products — so it is not specialized in probiotics. For many firms this means that they are private branding a product from a different manufacturer and charging a premium.
I would classify this as a random pick from your local grocery shop product. It lacks correct description and almost seems to be targeted to the naive.
Again — nothing known technically wrong with the product — just inaccurate and incomplete descriptions that denies an informed decision.
Another interesting study that popped out of the AI filtering. This is of special interest to SIBO folks that have high hydrogen because ” Methanogenic archaea reduce hydrogen levels “
Important members that have often been disregarded are the methanogenic archaea. Methanogenic archaea reduce hydrogen levels via the production of methane, thereby stimulating food fermentation by saccharolytic bacteria. On the other hand, colonization by archaea has been suggested to promote a number of gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases such as colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and obesity.
The relationship between these determinants and the presence and abundance of archaea was analyzed by logistic and linear regression respectively. Three hundred and sixty-nine out of the 472 children (78.2%) were colonized by M. smithii, and 39 out of the 472 children (8.3%) by M. stadtmanae. The consumption of organic yogurt (odds ratio: 4.25, CI95: 1.51; 11.95) and the consumption of organic milk (odds ratio: 5.58, CI95: 1.83; 17.01) were positively associated with the presence of M. smithii. We subsequently screened raw milk, processed milk, and yogurt samples for methanogens. We identified milk products as possible source for M. smithii, but not M. stadtmanae.
As I continue doing an in depth review of AI selected PubMed articles, I came across a study showing that hyperbaric chambers may actually make antibiotics less efficient and encourage antibiotic resistance. This is of concern because using hyperbaric chambers is popular in some communities based on logic such as: “increased oxygen level will kill off bad bacteria”
The sensitivity of selected bacteria to a range of antibiotics was tested under hyperbaric conditions used in saturation diving. The effect of hyperbaric helium and oxygen (heliox) on antibiotic stability and on induction of beta-lactamase was also determined. Increased resistance to penicillin (up to 23%) was shown by Staphylococcus aureus and to gentamicin (up to 46%) and rifampicin (up to 18%) by Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium at 36 and 71 bar pressure. Exposure to 71 bar heliox did not affect antibiotic activity but increased the production of beta-lactamase in inducible S. aureus and Bacillus subtilis and production of beta-galactosidase in inducible E. coli. Increased resistance to antibiotics in saturation diving conditions can be attributed in some cases to the influence of hyperbaric pressure on induction mechanisms in bacteria. The experimental system devised for this work is suitable for more detailed examination of the influence of hyperbaric stress on antibiotic resistance and of its effect on induction mechanisms in general.
“The gram-negative bacilli generally gave reduced zone diameters in oxyhelium,” [1984] – reduced zone means less effective.
Studies
In reviewing some studies, we find that it produces symptom relief especially where hypoxia is a factor (CFS/ME, FM, IBD, etc). The ‘Dave Berg’ school of thought ascribes this hypoxia to hypercoagulation in the tissue, often localized.
“Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) provides 100% oxygen under pressure, which increases tissue oxygen levels, relieves hypoxia and alters inflammatory pathways. ” [2014]
” Recent evidence that hyperbaric oxygen inhibits the actions of certain cytokines, acts as an immune modulator and may help cognitive dysfunction has resulted in a re-examination of its potential role in rheumatic diseases. A case report of a lupus/scleroderma crossover patient is presented whose cognitive dysfunction improved after hyperbaric oxygen therapy.” [1995]
“For example, under normal conditions age-related macular degeneration involves oxidative stress and death of the retinal pigment epithelial cells. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may exacerbate these processes…. Delivery of hyperbaric oxygen therapy may need to be modified or it may even be contraindicated in these cases. ” [2015]
Here we encounter a treatment that appears to have good short term effects (i.e. reducing hypoxia) with the possibility of encouraging the underlying condition by promoting resistance or altering the microbiome in an unfavorable direction. A 1985 study raises questions about the impact of pressure on the cut microbiome which do appear to have been partially answered by a study this year:
” Thus, the result suggest that hyperbaric pressure is an important exogenous factor that strongly modulated the intestinal morphology and microbial ecology, and induced several gastrointestinal ailments during hyperbarism. ” [2013]
We aimed to determine whether the composition of the fecal microbiota changes under hyperbaric conditions. In this study, we collected fecal samples from 6 healthy divers at three points during deep diving training (before, 2.1 MPa, end). The frequency of Clostridium cluster XVIII tended to be increased after compression. The frequencies of Clostridium cluster IV and subcluster XIVa were inversely correlated with that of Bacteroides. The compositional changes in the fecal microbiota exhibited interindividual variability. These findings suggest that hyperbaricconditions affect the fecal microbiota.
Many people have a belief that their health issues were caused by Cell Phone towers, Microwaves, Wifi, overhead power lines, household current, etc. Producing evidence of this is hard because the percentage that are likely influence is very small and disappear into insignificance with most studies.
Approaching this issue orthogonally produces some interesting studies from pub med.
Biofilm bacteria are resistant to antimicrobics at levels 500 to 5,000 times higher than those needed to kill non-biofilm bacteria. In vitro experiments have shown that electric current can enhance the activity of some antimicrobial agents against certain bacteria in biofilms; this has been termed the ”bioelectric effect”.
It is well documented that physiological electric fields provide the earliest signals necessary to initiate cell proliferation, migration, and ultimately reepithelialization of wounds. Additionally, electricity is known to exert an antimicrobial effect. An electric field-generating wound dressing designed to mimic physiological electric fields has not been described in the small animal clinic. This article retrospectively reviews the use of a microcell battery-impregnated bioelectric dressing (BED) in 5 small animal patients with complex wounds.
Presented herein is a novel bacterial biofilm combination treatment independent of traditional antibiotics, by using low electric fields in combination with small molecule inhibitors of bacterial quorum sensing – autoinducer-2 analogs… End-point confocal microscopy measurements of biofilms treated with the autoinducer analog and electric fields in the microfluidic device show a 78 % decrease in average biofilm thickness in comparison to the negative controls and demonstrate good correlation with real-time optical density measurements. Additionally, the combination treatment showed 76 % better treatment efficacy compared to conventional antibiotic therapy.
The electric current significantly changed the colony-forming units (CFU) values (P<0.001). According to pair-wise comparisons, the highest CFU difference was observed between the AC group and the group without electric current (P<0.001); furthermore, the difference between the DC group and the group without electric current was not significant (P=0.823).
Biofilm growth was monitored via impedance change at 100 Hz AC with a 50 mV signal amplitude. RESULTS: A 30% impedance decrease over 24 hours corresponded to Escherichia coli biofilm formation. The platform also enabled removal of the biofilm through the bioelectric effect; a low concentration of antibiotic combined with the applied AC voltage signal led to a synergistic reduction in biofilm resulting in a 12% increase in impedance.
All the three treatment modalities showed antibacterial effect. Application of current alone resulted in reduced bacterial growth than control group. Doxycycline alone resulted in reduction in bacterial counts better than control and current alone groups. The combination treatment showed greatest inhibition of bacterial colonies.
We see recent studies have found that alternating current impacts bacteria and biofilms. In the above studies, the researchers looked at the antibiotic effect. The catch is, this means changing bacteria and cannot be restricted to bad bacteria ; good bacteria will also be impacted.
Believing that electromagnetic fields triggered a condition has some credibility. The World Health Organization has ongoing work on EMF.
Best solution (seriously): Use only DC power and live in a faraday cage. It is actually possible to do this, when we built our current house, we specified that an aluminum house wrap was to be used. No Wifi (cable only – today we would have specified fiber optic drops in all rooms).
I’ve written some AI software to scan candidate PubMed articles for my sit as well as future posts. The item below is a IMHO nicely constructed study with a key item identified. I’ve saw similar in other studies, but this was the cleanest.
RESULTS:
Among 1119 patients with UTI, 124 patients with diabetes were matched with 246 patients without diabetes. In patients with diabetes, the bacteria identified were: Escherichia coli (71%), Klebsiella (6%), Staphylococcus (5%), Enterococcus (4%), Proteus (2%) and Pseudomonas (1%); these findings were similar to those found in patients without diabetes. Resistances to ofloxacin and cefixim regardless of the bacteria were increased in patients with diabetes after matching on age, sex and history of UTI (respectively: OR=2.09; p=0.04 and OR=3.67; p=0.05). Regarding E. coli resistance, there was no difference whatever the antibiotic.
This may be the key to many autoimmune conditions — the bacteria sharing antibiotic resistance across multiple bacteria. This leads directly to the classic Rickettsia protocol (Cecile Jadin MD advocates for CFS/ME) of rotating antibiotic families over several months to overcome this challenge.
CFS Remission 